Dragons rain fire on Tigers 70-3

"They're a heck of a team and we want to be them."

Those words from Cape Central wrestling coach Josh Crowell echoed his respect for the opponent and his hopes of emulating their success.

But for now, the Tigers are paying their dues as they were soundly defeated by Ste. Genevieve 70-3 at Central High School.

Ste. Genevieve, which has finished in the top five in Class 3A in each of the past five seasons, is loaded again and undefeated thus far. The Dragons have outscored opponents by a combined 199-30 margin.

The state runner-up in 2001, Ste. Genevieve also has two fourths, another second and a third in the past five years.

"We're fortunate that when wrestling started here there were some men that were on the wrestling team who have stayed around the community and they've become wrestling fanatics," said fourth-year coach Chris Werner, who also came up through the Ste. Genevieve program. "It's been a lot of work, not only by me, but by the fathers and the assistant coaches. It takes a lot of time to build a program that has that kind of continuous success."

In Thursday's action, Cape Central (0-3) could manage only one victory. Matt Welker took the 103-pound class with a 7-5 decision over Jeremy Herman.

As expected, Ste. Genevieve, led by all-staters Adam Vogt (125), Derrick Wolk (145) and Tyson Gegg (152) dominated the other matches. The Dragon victories were comprised of five pins, three forfeits, three major decisions and two technical falls.

Crowell, whose scheduling never shies away from top programs, said, "Quite honestly, I think we were a team of boys wrestling a team of men. But by going against quality teams, we show our kids what we want and they see that if we keep working hard one day our program will get there."

Cape Central's JV team lost 54-21, getting wins from Brandon Seabaugh (125), Steven Hobbs (130), David Allen (140), Andy Matthews (145) and Jonathan Cunningham (152).

103 - Matt Welker (CC) dec. Jeremy Herman, 7-5

112 - Travis Albertson (SG) pinned Dan Coonce, 0:24

119 - Brad Basler (SG) pinned Jonathan Poston, 2:47

125 - Adam Vogt (SG) maj. dec. Dustin Ingram, 16-6

130 - Randy Lurk (SG) maj. dec. Lee Hodges, 12-4

135 - Shane Okenfuss (SG) tech. fall Clay Tummins

140 - Joe Bauman (SG) pinned Cory Huskey, O:50

145 - Derrick Wolk (SG) pinned Brandon Hinkle, 0:54

152 - Todd Gegg (SG) pinned Josh Poole, 1:28

160 - Nick Bauman (SG) forfeit

171 - Bryan Gegg (SG) maj. dec. Trever Duncan, 18-7

189 - Tyson Gegg (SG) tech. fall Jason Poole

215 - Josh Carron (SG) forfeit

Hwt. - Derrick Stewart (SG) forfeit

We have a core of quality kids with a family background who are tremendous athletes, but they have a tremendous amount of heart.

You've got to hand it to Ste. Genevieve. X